In this episode we move into the second sub-circle of Violence, where we encounter the violent against self. We encounter Pier della Vigna, who eternally attempts to destroy his own soul by lowering it in the order of being. We discuss suicide in the pagan world, the medieval world, and the modern world. We note how the different ways that medieval and modern theologians each approach suicide by applying the same doctrine to two vastly different sets of circumstances. We also hear how opera's most famous clown is a little like the souls in this canto.